Air America, Inc. was reportedly formed in July 1950 as a 100%-owned subsidiary of the Pacific Corporation
and undertook worldwide charter and contract operations primarily in the Far East. Air America operated supply-dropping missions
in Laos under contract to the USAID.
Air America was owned by the CIA and played a leading role in logistic air support of the CIA's forces
in Laos from 1959 to 1974. When the US wars in Southeast Asia were over, Air America's surviving aircraft were sold and the
company was liquidated. Money ($20 million) raised from the sale of aircraft, e.g. via Omni Aircraft Sales Inc., was returned
to the US Treasury.
Christopher Robbins has written a history of Air America in Air America: the story of the CIA's secret
airlines. This book is not limited to just the history of Air America; its full title is a more accurate description as the
book also considers CAT, Bird Air and CASI. It reports that the owners of Air America had very little knowledge of its fleet
size or composition. Some excellent pictures of many of Air America's aircraft, plus others with CAT, Bird Air and CASI are
included in Terry Love's Wings of Air America: a photo history.
During the war, Air America flew throughout South Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia, but their main operations
were in Laos. Air America provided air support for American objectives in Laos, mainly through USAID. Their main objective
was logistical. They supplied General Vang Pao's 45,000-man army in MR II. Probably the biggest part of Air America's mission
was support of refugee supply, movement and resettlement. Because no US military planes were permitted to be based inside
Laos, Air America came to play an essential role with its helicopters, transports and STOL aircraft. Air America provided
the only Air Rescue Service in the area during the early 1960s.
The formal Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos, signed on 23 July 1962, provided for a coalition
government and the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country by 7 October. The United States pulled out its 666 military
advisers and support staff, and Air America stopped dropping weapons to the Hmong. Air America's operations declined sharply
in 1963. Restricted to food supply to the Hmong, which averaged 40 tons a month by the summer, the airline laid off people
and mothballed aircraft. By May 1963, the number of UH-34s assigned to Udorn had dropped from 18 to 6. Flight hours, which
had averaged 2,000 per month before the Geneva Accords, dropped to 600.
By 1966 Air America had almost 6,000 employees. At its peak in 1970, Air America had the largest airline
fleet in the world, in terms of numbers of aircraft owned, although a lot of these aircraft were small or helicopters. Air
America operated up to 30,000 flights per month by 1970. By the summer of 1970 the airline had some two dozen twin-engine
transports, another two dozen STOL aircraft, and some 30 helicopters dedicated to operations in Laos. During 1970, Air America
airdropped or landed over 20,000 tons of foodstuffs (mainly rice) in Laos and helicopter flight time reached more than 4,000
hours a month.
In Vietnam, Air America served about 12,000 passengers monthly. These included USAID people, missionaries,
military personnel, correspondents, government officials and nurses. Up to 40 aircraft were based in Vietnam.
Air America men were among the last to leave when Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam collapsed. Many Air America
aircraft were shot down and lost. 243 men were killed in action while working with Air America; 100 AAM personnel died in
Laos, including 23 crewmembers that died in flight operations. Eleven AAM crewmembers were lost in the three years 1965, 1966
and 1967, of which five were due to enemy action. Between December 1971 and April 1972, six AAM crewmembers died in Laos.
In December alone, 24 aircraft were hit by ground fire and three were shot down.
Tables 3 and 4 are an initial attempt to establish Air America's fleet size and composition. The annual
World Airline Surveys by Flight International (Table 3) give an indication of fleet composition and size, and Table 4, which
has been compiled from numerous sources and production lists, gives the identity of many of these aircraft.
